Leo Adelman spent much of his life playing the jazz trumpet. In retirement, he spends a great deal of time playing and promoting jazz throughout San Diego County. When the NAMM Oral Histo...
Jim Anastasi served as the trumpet tester for the King Band Instrument factory in Cleveland, Ohio for nearly 40 years. While testing some 200 instruments a day, Jim worked with some noted...
Ray Anthony has only endorsed two products during his long and successful career-- only two because he doesn't give use of his name lightly. As a teenager he played trumpet for the famed ...
Byron Autrey loved to tell you everything you needed to know about how a trumpet works, and I mean everything! Byron studied the craft of trumpet design for decades, having been a player ...
Bob Baca teaches trumpet and is the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, where he approaches his teaching from not only the standpoint of a musician but fro...
Tim Bales is a hard-swinging brass player and long-time member of the band the Ides of March. His playing career began in the first grade when he was just six years old playing the cornet...
Rod Baltimore has been a music retailer in New York for over 40 years. Much of that time was spent on the famed 48th street music central. Working with brass and woodwinds, Rod has mainta...
Donovan Bankhead has a true passion for the music! His early memories regarding musical instruments involved seeing his older sister’s guitar and flute and taking notice of them before he...
Dave Bartholomew was a noted bandleader, trumpeter, and songwriter who captured a pioneering sound known as the “big beat” of rock and roll. His uncanny ability to provide the perfect mus...
Angelo Battellini proudly managed the Martin Band Instrument factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he worked for 51 years. He was born the son of a brick layer in Italy, a trade he learne...
Irwin Berg has a million great stories, like the one when Glenn Miller ensured that his father not serve in the infantry during World War II, but instead, design and manufacture all the m...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Johnny Best started off learning the piano but switched to ...
Lyle Bird grew up in a musical family with his mother playing the piano daily. As a teenager he played trumpet in several swing bands during the big band era including with such leaders a...
Terence Blanchard remembers with pride the special way Lionel Hampton coached and encouraged him. It was his first professional gig and Hamp took the time to share with young Terence, an...
Cassie Brueckner is the president of Pete’s Music store and the daughter of the founder. She grew up in the Anaheim, California store, where she learned to repair musical instruments and...
Clora Bryant was billed as the female Louie Armstrong in the era of the Ed Sullivan variety show. Her raspy-voiced imitations were a big favorite among viewers but the gimmick often over-...
Skip Buss played trumpet for several big bands on the road and in local hotel ballrooms during the great Swing Era of the 1940s. He decided to leave the road when his son was born at whi...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Billy Butterfield's smooth and melodic trumpet can be heard...
Ben Cauley can be heard on hundreds of Stax Record hits including those with Otis Redding. Ben was a member of Otis's backup band called the Bar-Kays, which originated as the horn sectio...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Doc Cheatham was a blues and jazz trumpeter who played from...
Nat Clark worked for the York Band Instrument Company for over 40 years! He was hired in New York in 1957 because his older brother was working for Carl Fischer, which owned York at the ...
Richard Collins had a colorful career as a jazz trumpeter in the evening while he studied for his masters degree by day. Two topics always fascinated Dick, music and research, so he sou...
Sal Cracchiolo learned how to play the trumpet on his mother’s horn. As his love of the instrument grew she saw to it that Sal received classical trumpet lessons with some of the top teac...
Murray Davison was a trumpet player who had a few gigs during the Big Band Era, but had to get a day job after the war. While he became a successful businessman, music was never far away....
Steve Dawe grew up surrounded by music! His mother was a piano teacher and he studied the trumpet in college, but ultimately gravitated to the Hammond B3 as his primary instrument on stag...
Bryan Dempsen started played piano and guitar as a kid and trumpet in college. His career developed after school and he played less and less over the years until the pandemic gave him the...
Tom Dorn studied jazz trumpet at Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin. The experience cemented his passion for music and soon Tom found himself working for the Wurlitzer retail stores...
Ronnie Drumm had a full and fulfilling life in music! As a child he picked up the trumpet, which he played during his time as a big band leader, musical director and educator. Ronnie work...
David Ellis was greatly influenced by his father, Richard Ellis, the band director and music store founder. Growing up in the business, David developed a strong passion for music both as ...
Maynard Ferguson’s first big time gig was with the Boyd Raeburn Orchestra. He later played his unique trumpet style, with plenty of high notes, with Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Dorsey, Stan Ken...
Lloyd Fillio grew up in the band instrument capital, Elkhart, Indiana. His father worked in the industry as did his uncle and cousin (Ernie Kenaga who was also interviewed). It seemed nat...
Chuck Findley can be heard on the beautiful Flugel Horn solo on the Carpenter’s 1970 hit “(They Long to Be) Close To You.” However, that one recording should not define the range and enor...
